# Movies you thought were awesome when you were a kid but now cringe at **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 6, 2009, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-thought-were-awesome-when-you-were-a-kid-but-now-cringe-at/492123 "2009-04-06T13:24:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Paintcharge](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/paintcharge/32/7946_2.png) [@Paintcharge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paintcharge)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2009, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-thought-were-awesome-when-you-were-a-kid-but-now-cringe-at/492123/121 "2009-04-10T15:36:02Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > The jokes between Gene Hackman and the black guy - can’t remember his name - are still funny in Blazing Saddles. > > “Well, Jim, since you are my guest and I am your host, what’s your pleasure? What do you like to do?” > “Oh, I don’t know. Play chess… screw…” > "Well, let’s play chess. " > > And I like the governor. The fart jokes are _tres_ stupid but I always thought fart jokes were so, and only laughed at them when I was little to fit in. Now I refuse to even do that. Nitpick. Gene **Wilder** and Cleavon Little. It would have been quite…interesting with Gene Hackman. ---
**Author:** ![mariposalabrown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ad7895/32.png) [@mariposalabrown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mariposalabrown)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2009, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-thought-were-awesome-when-you-were-a-kid-but-now-cringe-at/492123/122 "2009-04-10T16:06:20Z")
> [@shy\_guy](#): > > Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2. The first one is still awesome, but the second one’s only saving grace is how goofy the Vanilla Ice song is. Yet I watched that movie _every day_ after school for the entire 3rd grade. If I catch it on TV I watch it to see if I can still quote it line for line. I can. “They’re BABIES!!!” Oh man, we are around the same age, I loved that movie so much, and actually have it on my amazon wish list. Hmm, it’s pay day, I think I will treat myself. I can’t think of anything I cringe at, but I have seen _The Buttercream Gang_ about 5 billion times. My stepmom bought it at church, thinking it would teach us good morals. She heard us hooting and hollering and was very proud of herself, never realized we were laughing AT it. Best bad Mormom movie ever. Man, I think I might buy that as well. I think _The Wizard_ has held up, I watched it not too long ago and still find the acting good, and I still get excited when he finds the warp zone, despite beating that game around 15 years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2009, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-thought-were-awesome-when-you-were-a-kid-but-now-cringe-at/492123/123 "2009-04-10T16:11:26Z")
> [@Paintcharge](#): > > Nitpick. Gene **Wilder** and Cleavon Little. It would have been quite…interesting with Gene Hackman. Oops. I am absolutely terrible at names. Thank you. ---
**Author:** ![sachertorte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sachertorte/32/3727_2.png) [@sachertorte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sachertorte)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2009, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-thought-were-awesome-when-you-were-a-kid-but-now-cringe-at/492123/124 "2009-04-10T16:35:39Z")
_The Wizard of Oz_ I know I’m supposed to worship all things Judy Garland, but this movie, which I have fond memories of watching as a child, is really hard to watch as an adult. A few years ago it was on TV and I wanted to watch it with my husband. He never really watched it before. His reaction was, “Really? You like this movie?” I had to admit that it was basically unwatchable and we moved on to do something else. Even now, I can’t think of reasons why it sucks so much, all I remember is how much I liked it as a kid. ---
**Author:** ![kurilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ea5d25/32.png) [@kurilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kurilla)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2009, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-thought-were-awesome-when-you-were-a-kid-but-now-cringe-at/492123/125 "2009-04-10T16:40:01Z")
> [@Paintcharge](#): > > Nitpick. Gene **Wilder** and Cleavon Little. It would have been quite…interesting with Gene Hackman. And now you have me visualizing that scene with Gene Hackman and Samuel L. Jackson in the roles… I blame two nights in a row of lousy sleep. Another TV show to add to the mix: “The Tomorrow People.” And “Isis.” But for movies, the biggest disappointment to me as an adult was (hangs head in shame) “Megaforce.” Loved it as a teen (reasonably hot guys in form-fitting suits had something to do with it). Watched it as an adult when I found out that a then-co-worker’s husband had a bit part in it – it hurt. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2009, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-thought-were-awesome-when-you-were-a-kid-but-now-cringe-at/492123/126 "2009-04-10T16:49:47Z")
> [@kurilla](#): > > And now you have me visualizing that scene with Gene Hackman and Samuel L. Jackson in the roles… I was picturing Gene Hackman and Morgan Freeman, reprising their roles from _Unforgiven_. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2009, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-thought-were-awesome-when-you-were-a-kid-but-now-cringe-at/492123/127 "2009-04-10T17:18:49Z")
> [@Paintcharge](#): > > It would have been quite…interesting with Gene Hackman. Jim: Look at my hand. _[raises hand and holds it level]_ Bart: Steady as a rock. Jim: _[raises his other hand, which is violently trembling]_ Yeah, but I pick my toes with this one. ---
**Author:** ![UncaStuart](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uncastuart/32/404_2.png) [@UncaStuart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncaStuart)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2009, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-thought-were-awesome-when-you-were-a-kid-but-now-cringe-at/492123/128 "2009-04-10T20:05:32Z")
_It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World_. When it came out I was in high school. Hey, it had Ernie Kovacs, Jonathan Winters, Terry-Thomas! Fast forward 30 years, when I first saw it again, and wow, is it unfunny and overlong. (Still good airplane stunts, though.) ---
**Author:** ![MyFootsZZZ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/myfootszzz/32/12580_2.png) [@MyFootsZZZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MyFootsZZZ)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2009, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-thought-were-awesome-when-you-were-a-kid-but-now-cringe-at/492123/129 "2009-04-10T20:11:07Z")
> [@UncaStuart](#): > > _It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World_. When it came out I was in high school. Hey, it had Ernie Kovacs, Jonathan Winters, Terry-Thomas! Fast forward 30 years, when I first saw it again, and wow, is it unfunny and overlong. (Still good airplane stunts, though.) I saw that on TV the other day, and was going to watch it for the first time. Then I realized how much of my night it was going take up. It’s long movie! I Wondered if I had made the right choice or not, and I guess I did. ---
**Author:** ![Linty\_Fresh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Linty\_Fresh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Linty_Fresh)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2009, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-thought-were-awesome-when-you-were-a-kid-but-now-cringe-at/492123/130 "2009-04-11T00:23:47Z")
> [@Crotalus](#): > > OK, you win. I take it back. It’s a MASTERPIECE!! 🆒 That’s better. Now repeat after me: “[The Last Movie](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067327/) was a masterpiece.” _Say it!!_ Actually, I’m just kidding about **The Last Movie**. _That_ film blew dogs. [QUOTE=UncaStuart] It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. When it came out I was in high school. Hey, it had Ernie Kovacs, Jonathan Winters, Terry-Thomas! Fast forward 30 years, when I first saw it again, and wow, is it unfunny and overlong. (Still good airplane stunts, though.) [/QUOTE] This is another movie I love, and I own the DVD, but I can understand how some people wouldn’t like it. I do, because it stars quite simply the best slapstick actors of that generation and a few from the preceding generation in one work. The overall plot is weak, and the story isn’t connected very well, but if you look at it as a series of snapshots of comedy, it can be a great experience. Still, if you’re not into slapstick or comedians of the 50’s and 60’s, then there’s not much to get out of it. As far as I’m concerned, Terry Thomas, Dick Shawn, and that guy from Gilligan’s Island _made_ that movie. ---
**Author:** ![crypto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b3f665/32.png) [@crypto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crypto)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2009, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-thought-were-awesome-when-you-were-a-kid-but-now-cringe-at/492123/131 "2009-04-11T00:38:16Z")
It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World still holds up, but not well; it could use an edit of an hour. The other thing I never bought even as a kid were the ugly men and their beautiful wives. Can’t remember the actresses, but Sid Ceaser and Uncle Miltie get particularly good looking women. That never worked when I was 10! Now, for Blazing Saddles, it still makes me laugh. My favorite scene? The LaPetomaine Tollway. “what’ll we do?” “someone’s going to have to go back into town and get a shit-load of dimes.” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2009, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-thought-were-awesome-when-you-were-a-kid-but-now-cringe-at/492123/132 "2009-04-11T01:00:43Z")
The Black Hole ---
**Author:** ![Linty\_Fresh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Linty\_Fresh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Linty_Fresh)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2009, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-thought-were-awesome-when-you-were-a-kid-but-now-cringe-at/492123/133 "2009-04-11T01:12:33Z")
> [@Bearflag70](#): > > The Black Hole Seconded. I Tivo’d that on AMC a couple of nights ago, and it couldn’t be any dumber if it had Jar-Jar Binx instead of the big red robot. ---
**Author:** ![Pyper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Pyper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pyper)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2009, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-thought-were-awesome-when-you-were-a-kid-but-now-cringe-at/492123/134 "2009-04-11T02:45:34Z")
Oh, God, I just remembered. As children, my sister and I watched [Mac and Me](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095560/) over and over. I thought it was way better than _E.T._, which frightened me with the scenes of E.T. dying and being kidnapped by scientists. Now as an adult, I realize that it is a cynical, unabashed rip-off and blatant commercial for Coca Cola, Skittles, and MacDonald’s. My mother must have had the patience of a saint to sit through so many viewings and not point out to us how stupid it was. ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2009, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-thought-were-awesome-when-you-were-a-kid-but-now-cringe-at/492123/135 "2009-04-11T04:40:31Z")
[QUOTE=UncaStuart] It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. When it came out I was in high school. Hey, it had Ernie Kovacs, Jonathan Winters, Terry-Thomas! Fast forward 30 years, when I first saw it again, and wow, is it unfunny and overlong. (Still good airplane stunts, though.) [/QUOTE] > [@Linty\_Fresh](#): > > This is another movie I love, and I own the DVD, but I can understand how some people wouldn’t like it. I do, because it stars quite simply the best slapstick actors of that generation and a few from the preceding generation in one work. The overall plot is weak, and the story isn’t connected very well, but if you look at it as a series of snapshots of comedy, it can be a great experience. Still, if you’re not into slapstick or comedians of the 50’s and 60’s, then there’s not much to get out of it. > > As far as I’m concerned, Terry Thomas, Dick Shawn, and that guy from Gilligan’s Island _made_ that movie. [Nitpick]Kovacs was not in **IM4W**. He was originally cast but died before shooting started and was replaced by Sid Caesar.[/Nitpick] My opinion of \*\*It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World \*\*has fluctuated over time. When I was 8, I thought it was the greatest movie in the world. However, my appraisal of it dropped considerably as I grew older. However, I now think better of it mainly on the basis of some truly funny scenes (e.g., Winters destroying the gas station, which my favorite mainly for Arnold Stang’s “We’re gonna have to kill him!” line). Still, the biggest problem I have with the movie is fact it was directed by the wrong man: Stanley “Mr. Message Movie” Kramer. Kramer was plainly not a director of comedies and it shows in off-pacing of some of the scenes. Also, **IM4W** is a very cynically toned movie and Kramer was probably one of the least cynical men in Hollywood. \*\*It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World \*\*was a movie that needed to be directed by someone who was adept at broad comedy and cynical humor like Billy Wilder. ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2009, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-thought-were-awesome-when-you-were-a-kid-but-now-cringe-at/492123/136 "2009-04-11T04:44:25Z")
> [@Pyper](#): > > Oh, God, I just remembered. As children, my sister and I watched [Mac and Me](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095560/) over and over. I thought it was way better than _E.T._, which frightened me with the scenes of E.T. dying and being kidnapped by scientists. > > Now as an adult, I realize that it is a cynical, unabashed rip-off and blatant commercial for Coca Cola, Skittles, and MacDonald’s. > > My mother must have had the patience of a saint to sit through so many viewings and not point out to us how stupid it was. In that vein, I thought “Flight of the Navigator” was a masterpiece when I was 9-years-old. Spaceships, time travel, robots, a young Sarah Jessica Parker. It had everything. I probably watched it a dozen times when I was in third grade. Everytime it was on TV I saw it. When my parents first got a VCR this was one of the first movies we got. Today it just seems like a low-rent version of ET. ---
**Author:** ![MyFootsZZZ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/myfootszzz/32/12580_2.png) [@MyFootsZZZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MyFootsZZZ)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2009, 8:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-thought-were-awesome-when-you-were-a-kid-but-now-cringe-at/492123/137 "2009-04-11T08:33:52Z")
> [@Pyper](#): > > Oh, God, I just remembered. As children, my sister and I watched [Mac and Me](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095560/) over and over. I thought it was way better than _E.T._, which frightened me with the scenes of E.T. dying and being kidnapped by scientists. > > Now as an adult, I realize that it is a cynical, unabashed rip-off and blatant commercial for Coca Cola, Skittles, and MacDonald’s. > > My mother must have had the patience of a saint to sit through so many viewings and not point out to us how stupid it was. Wow,\*\* E.T.\*\* scared me too, specifically the part where he was sick, and all pail and stuff. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2009, 8:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-thought-were-awesome-when-you-were-a-kid-but-now-cringe-at/492123/138 "2009-04-11T08:56:30Z")
That’s easy : **Top Gun**. I just don’t want to be on the highway to the danger zone anymore, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2009, 8:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-thought-were-awesome-when-you-were-a-kid-but-now-cringe-at/492123/139 "2009-04-11T08:57:40Z")
The astronaut home invasion scene in ET is still one of the most startling and unsettling scenes of all time. It scared the hell out of me when I was a kid. When I was a kid, I would watch The Karate Kid Part III over and over again every morning before school, while my dad was making breakfast. Whenever it was over I’d just rewind it and watch it again. It doesn’t make me cringe though; I still watch it now. I have seen that movie probably more than sixty times, if I had to guess, and it never gets old. Terry Silver is one of the best villains of all time. ---
**Author:** ![Mann\_Slaughter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@Mann\_Slaughter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mann_Slaughter)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2009, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-thought-were-awesome-when-you-were-a-kid-but-now-cringe-at/492123/140 "2009-04-13T21:14:45Z")
> [@kurilla](#): > > But for movies, the biggest disappointment to me as an adult was (hangs head in shame) “Megaforce.” Loved it as a teen (reasonably hot guys in form-fitting suits had something to do with it). Watched it as an adult when I found out that a then-co-worker’s husband had a bit part in it – it hurt. I’d totally forgotten about MegaFarce. I remember seeing ads for it before its release, and thinking it would be the Best. Movie. Ever… I saw it at 18 y.o. and I couldn’t have been more disappointed. [Eww!](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqCb_9ubQ1U) Everything about it screams craptastic-1980’s-stunt-spectacular-TV. (The A-Team; Knight Rider, etc) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-thought-were-awesome-when-you-were-a-kid-but-now-cringe-at/492123.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-thought-were-awesome-when-you-were-a-kid-but-now-cringe-at/492123.md?page=8)